In May 2011, Michael Butler, associate professor of history, Ph.D., took a group of 33 Flagler College students to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. For 12 days, 33 students took to the streets of Killarney, Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Edinburgh, York and London, seeing what each city had to offer and enjoying once in a lifetime experiences along the way.
Students on the trip can now say they were on London Bridge with a group of 1.25 million people to watch Queen Elizabeth II sail by on the River Thames for her Diamond Jubilee, and some can even say that they shook the hand of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
Climbing on Ring Forts, kissing the Blarney Stone, walking through the remains of an underground medieval city, attending High Tea and gawking over the crown jewels of England were only some of the highlights of the trip. However, none of this would have been possible had it not been for the leadership of Butler.
Butler was responsible for planning the logistics. It took over a year to plan, and he did his own research to make sure everyone was going to enjoy their time abroad.
“The reason for my planning is to maximize every minute in the foreign country,” Butler said. “We didn’t do anything because it was cool. There is a purpose for everything.”
For example, he knew that the group was going to be in London during the Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II, so he made sure that they had a spot in city center.
Butler has been leading study abroad trips since 2003, and this trip was his ninth excursion overseas. He said he likes taking students abroad because he likes to see student’s reactions when they see something for the first time that they thought they never would get to see.
Stephanie Garrison was one of the 33 students who went overseas.
“I’ve always wanted to travel abroad, especially to England. The England, Ireland and Scotland trip was really once in a lifetime. It will never happen again,” she said.
Each student had his or her favorite part of the trip that made it unique to them, and some of them, like Kelsey Peryam, were not expecting some of stops to impress them as much as they did.
“Scotland was like a hidden gem,” Peryam said. “I wasn’t expecting to be so in awe with the place. I expected it to be a quick stop on our way to London. But instead, I got to go to one of the the most beautiful countries, where I will be visiting again soon.”
However, Garrison’s favorite part was wandering around London and taking part in celebrating the queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
“[In London], I got to witness an historic event that was being broadcast around the entire world,” she said.
However, in preparation for the hop across the pond, students had to take at least one class during the summer term. Throughout April and May, quizzes and essays were due every week. There was talk of teaching abroad, but Butler disagreed.
“I can give a lecture on Ireland here,” Butler said. “Why would I lecture on Ireland when Ireland is out the door?”
Study abroad trips do not come cheap, however, and the students had to make financial sacrifices in order to go on the trip. But Peryam said that the experiences are worth the sacrifices.
“It is worth more than any begging you have to do,” she said. “The experience was more than I could ever ask for. I made new friends, saw things that I could never hope to see and learned more than anyone could have ever imagined in a hands on way.”
